Blinken to travel to Israel, West Bank in week-long Gaza diplomacy push
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the media prior to departure from Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai, on December 1, 2023. The United States remains \"intensely focused\" on freeing hostages held in Gaza despite the resumption of the Israel-Hamas war after a week-long truce, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday. SAUL LOEB/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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WASHINGTON - U.S. top diplomat Antony Blinken will depart on Thursday for a week of diplomacy on Israel’s war in Gaza, visiting Israel and the West Bank, as well as Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt over the next week, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.
The visit comes amid heightened concerns the nearly three-month-old conflict is spreading beyond Gaza, drawing in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Hezbollah forces on the Lebanon-Israel border, and Red Sea shipping lanes.
Blinken will discuss specific steps parties in the region can take to prevent the conflict from expanding, Miller said at a regular press briefing.
"It is in no one's interest - not Israel's, not the region's, not the world's - for this conflict to spread beyond Gaza," Miller said.
Blinken would also discuss immediate measures to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza and efforts to bring home remaining hostages taken by Hamas, Miller added. REUTERS
